Bay Area Solidarity Summer (BASS)
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The curriculum for BASS 2022 is under development.

Take a look at our past highlights to get a sense of the topics we often include:

Past highlights

BASS 2021 (online, due to COVID-19)
  • a refined online experience over Zoom, Slack, and spatial chat, with lots of music, breaks, and small group breakout time
  • core organizing skills sessions cover elements of campaign strategy and movement-building
  • a deep dive into social change ecosystem map, and opportunities to explore where we best fit in
  • three small intimate community mixers, where participants connected with movement mentors from across the country
  • South Asian radical histories, from early labor diasporas to the post-Trump period
  • a focus on transnational solidarities, exploring movement work everywhere from Oakland to across South Asia

BASS 2020 (online, due to COVID-19)
  • an online BASS experience, with short days, a flipped classroom, small group time, and long breaks to prevent Zoom exhaustion
  • South Asian radical history, with a deep focus on Black-Brown solidarities
  • intro to core organizing skills, including campaign strategy, power mapping
  • daily small group time with multigenerational community activists and mentors
  • deep dives on Hindu nationalism, caste abolition, neoliberalism, multiracial organizing, and more
  • optional participant-led sessions, which included breakouts on campus organizing, art, race and medicine, caste abolition, DJing, and more

BASS 2019 (Berkeley, CA) [need to add]

BASS 2018 (Berkeley, CA)
  • practical organizing 101 sessions on topics like organizing and campaign strategy, direct action, and facilitation
  • group projects focusing on current case studies, from hate crimes to international labor justice
  • media and messaging skills, rooted in story-based strategy
  • South Asian American activist histories, with a focus on Black and South Asian solidarities
  • opportunities to connect with BASS alums and community mentors with decades of activist experience
  • sessions on power and privilege, confronting imperialism, queer politics, and more
  • participant-led sessions on topics like Dalit activism
  • Bay Area activists share behind-the-scenes stories of organizing against Islamophobia

BASS 2017 (Oakland, CA)
  • practical organizing 101 sessions on topics like campaign strategy and direct action
  • group projects focusing on real case studies, ranging from racism to environmental justice
  • comms track, focusing on messaging, communications, and movement photography
  • sessions on power and privilege, intersectional feminism, reproductive justice, and labor
  • freeform participant-led sessions
  • South Asian American history timeline and sharing stories of our movements
  • Bay Area activists share stories of local multiracial organizing to combat Islamophobia
  • opportunities to connect with BASS alums and a community of mentors and elders

BASS 2016 (Oakland, CA)
  • practical organizing 101 sessions on campaign strategy, messaging, posters, and direct action
  • five different group projects on a Black and Brown solidarity theme to apply learnings to real-world case studies
  • sessions on power and privilege, gender, intersectionality, and transnational feminism
  • participant-led sessions on a variety of themes
  • South Asian American history timeline, and sharing stories from our movements
  • session on Islamophobia, xenophobia and the refugee crisis
  • workshop on confronting anti-Blackness in South Asian communities
  • community mixer bringing participants together with BASS alumni and South Asian activists

BASS 2015 (Oakland, CA)
  • Black Lives Matter focus, including sessions on Black and Brown solidarity
  • practical organizing 101 sessions on campaign strategy, messaging, and direct action
  • four different group projects to apply learnings to real-world case studies
  • sessions on power and privilege, anti-oppression, and women of color feminism
  • South Asian American history timeline, and telling stories of our movements
  • workshops addressing neoliberalism, capitalism, anti-Blackness
  • community mixer bringing together 3 generations of South Asian activists, plus a conversation with alumni
  • talent show, featuring music, poetry, dance, and more

BASS 2014 (Oakland, CA)
  • organizing 101 sessions on campaign strategy, direct action, and messaging and communications
  • group projects to apply learnings to real-world case studies
  • sessions on power and privilege, and gender, sex, and sexuality
  • South Asian American history timeline, and telling stories of our movements
  • workshops on understanding race, caste, islamophobia, hindutva, and more
  • workshops exploring economics and the ecological crisis for a South Asian American angle
  • community mixer bringing together 3 generations of South Asian activists
  • talent show, featuring dance, music, storytelling, and more

BASS 2013 (Berkeley, CA)
  • tabla, street art, hip-hop, and writing sessions
  • panel on black/brown solidarities, featuring activist elders Ayesha Gill and ericka huggins
  • in-depth workshop on organizing leadership strategies
  • food justice workshop, featuring a "supergroup" of four researchers/activists
  • workshops on gender, sexuality, and gender violence
  • interactive timeline and walking tour field trip of 100+ years of South Asian American history
  • climate justice workshop, exploring climate change from a South Asian angle
  • workshop on addressing Islamophobia and racial violence

BASS 2012 (Berkeley, CA)
  • creative writing workshop with award-winning author Minal Hajratwala
  • workshop on gender led by alumni and health educators
  • creation of a South Asian American history wall
  • workshop on South Asian worker organizing
  • live street art, hip-hop, and tabla sessions
  • workshop on addressing racial violence and Islamophobia
  • walking tour of 100+ years of Berkeley South Asian radical history

BASS 2011 (Oakland, CA)
  • keynote speeches by author/professor Sunaina Maira and immigrant rights activist & law student Prerna Lal
  • spoken word workshop led by hip-hop artist Chee Malabar
  • workshop on gender led by UC Berkeley's group Khush
  • workshop on Islamophobia, profiling, and racism
  • environmental justice themed hike through the Oakland hills
  • youth activist panel featuring young community leaders
  • workshop on South Asian narratives and legacy
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